How 'Bout That Maintenance?

K

karam a

New member
I was reading through the manual and noticed the procedure to change spark plugs. It says you have to remove the speedometer and gas tank!?! Guess I didn't see that coming. How difficult is it? Also, for storage, it says to change the oil before storage and then change it again before taking it out of storage. Seems to me the first oil would be fine if it's just sitting in the engine unused. Does everybody else out there follow this procedure by the book?
 
I change my oil for storage. Fresh oil and all the crap out. Also you can get condensation inside the motor during storage. I would rather pay $15 a season for fresh oil and not take any chances!!

As far as the plugs then yeah you would have to remove the tank and speedo. The tank on my bike is under the seat but I still have to remove the dash and dummy tins.
 
True. Yet, once a year before storage, the manual says to drop a little oil down the spark plug holes so, following that, you'd be disassembling once a year. Mind you, it doesn't look hard. I would worry more about having fuel spew out of the fuel lines when doing it.
 
You only need to put oil in the holes if you will not start it for months at a time. I usually try and start the bike once a month on a "warm" MN winter day and ride if possible to get it up to operating temp. I would assume that you are not nearly as cold in VA as we are here in MN.
 
You won't lose fuel, the valve is vacumn operated (closed if the bike is off) so at most you'll only lose a couple of drops from the lines.
 
I changed the plugs on mine a few months ago. If you're careful and use a rag for assistance you don't spill much gas at all. Just need to put your finger on the end of the gas line when disassembling the tank from the bike. That was the first time I did it so it took an hour or so to do because I wanted to be super careful. Next time I do it I'd like to think it will go much faster because I know exactly what to expect. The hardest part was pulling the gas line from the tank. I actually had to get my wife to do that part because she had smaller fingers. You'll see what I mean if you try it. Other than that the whole process is a snap.
 
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